How extensive is the paperwork for the EB-5 application?

I have no sense of how much work the actual EB-5 application is going to take/what the forms look like. How much paperwork will I have to fill out? Is it primarily hard copies or will most items be electronic?

Answers

The form required for an investor is several pages long and requires information on the investor and the project. There are right and wrong ways to answer the questions, which is why retaining EB-5 immigration counsel is essential. Supporting documents are also very important.

Most I-526 petition packages for regional center EB-5 cases are hundreds of pages (or more). A direct EB-5 I-526 petition could be less cumbersome, but all submissions must be by hard copy. Electronic submissions are not allowed at this time.

You should cover this information in an assessment with an EB-5 lawyer. USCIS does not require any original documents, so much can be done via scanned copies. We often work with clients abroad without ever having them physically present in our office.

Lawful source of funds documents are generally determined on a case by case basis because each I-526 petition is different for each investor, i.e. gift of funds, loan, sale of real or other property, business earnings, inheritance, etc. Most documents are submitted to USCIS as photocopies of originals, except original immigration forms. A regional center project documentation is generally fairly extensive and is provided to you or your attorney electronically by most regional centers. You may also submit most of your lawful source of funds documents to your attorney electronically (via a scanning device and file sharing program for larger files). You should first engage the legal services of an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney and he or she will discuss your case and the scope of your individual lawful source of funds documents needed from you to prepare your individual I-526 petition.

There is extensive EB-5 paperwork that is filed with any EB-5 application on Form I-526. Most of that would be a package that is actually prepared by the regional center and/or job creating entity. Typically, one would have legal representation in order to help prepare the extensive EB-5 application, which can be quite extensive. The application is filed with hard copies by mail.

If you are applying through the regional center, they generate much of the supporting documents. You will need to complete the I-526 and as much documentation as needed to show the legal source of your funds. Sometimes this is simple, such as the sale of a property for the full amount, and other times it is quite complicated.

The standard of proof is high for EB-5 immigrant investor processing and it does indeed require extensive paperwork. All filings are by hard copy/mailing. Discussing the merits of the case with an experienced immigration lawyer is a good idea.

The actual I-526 form is not that extensive. The source of investment funds documentation can be extensive depending on the facts of a particular application. In addition, all of the documentation related to the investment must be a part of the application.

The EB-5 applications are extremely complex with tracking source of funds of the investment to a great detail, as well as extensive business documents that show how the project/business will add 10+ permanent, full-time jobs per each investment. The latest I-526 immigration petition we filed had over 12 inches of documents and took our office over three weeks to prepare, and I have over nine years of EB-5 experience. Thus, this is not something that anyone could prepare and many immigration attorneys cannot do it if they are not EB-5 attorneys.

The average EB-5 I-526 case we submit is about 12-14 inches of paperwork, whereas the I-829 second phase is about 18-24 inches thick. There is no electronic filing so our FedEx bills are huge.

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